Day two proves to be a proud day for the Archibald family with both Katie, and her brother John, winning cycling medals for Scotland while Sarah Vasey followed in roommate Aimee Willmott’s footsteps with swimming gold.
Day two of the 2018 Commonwealth Games proves to be a proud day for the Archibald family with both Katie, and her brother John, winning cycling medals for Scotland while Sarah Vasey followed in roommate Aimee Willmott’s footsteps with swimming gold.
Rarely does a silver medal upstage a gold but when said Commonwealth Games silver is won by a rider who only touched a track bike less than a year ago, the champ can understand.
That’s the case for the Archibald siblings.
Katie, 24, already has Olympic, world and European titles to her name but brother John, 27, is a fresh face on the track cycling scene.
A matter of months after giving up his job, hopping on a track bike and setting about emulating his sister’s success, he now has a Commonwealth Games individual pursuit silver medal around his neck.
While Katie has added the women’s equivalent title to her long list of cycling achievements.
“I’ve gone into it all guns blazing and luckily I’ve come away with something I can be really proud of,” said John.
“Looking six months ago, to where I am now, it’s a crazy journey so I’m really pleased.
"Even eight or nine months ago, I’d never touched a track bike. I’ve stopped work and gone full-time into cycling in the last three or four months and given everything towards it.
"Seeing Katie win the gold got me going. The final was hard and the pressure was on, but she certainly put me in the mix. I just wished I could've backed it up better."
Tanfield meanwhile couldn’t wipe the smile off his face after clinching gold.
“It’s absolutely epic. I couldn’t have asked for any more,” proclaimed the 21-year-old.
“I knew I was in a good place after the qualifying. Towards the end of the final I thought I messed up for a second but I managed to hold on and I’m absolutely ecstatic with the win.”
Sarah Vasey spent the first night of the Commonwealth Games watching roommate Aimee Willmott take gold in the pool – on day two she matched her.
The 21-year-old qualified second fastest for the final of the 50m breaststroke but came through strongly to take gold from Championship record holder Alia Atkinson of Jamaica.
That saw her imitate Willmott, who had won the 400m IM in dramatic fashion on Thursday, as well as club colleague James Wilby who took 200m breaststroke gold on the opening night.
She said: “I'm really happy. I wanted to join the gold rush that went on last night for the English team. I cried when James won, I was an emotional wreck. He smashed his PB last night and I cried like a baby.
“Last night was so good to watch. I'm sharing a room with Aimee and when she came back I saw her medal and was like 'I want one of those'.”
The medals continued to flow in the pool for the home nations with Scotland’s Duncan Scott taking bronze in the 200m freestyle while compatriot Mark Szaranek won 400m individual medley silver.
And the night was rounded off with England’s David Cumberlidge, Ben Proud, Jarvis Parkinson and James Guy taking silver and Scotland’s Scott, Jack Thorpe, Kieran McGuckin and Stephen Milne bronze behind Australia in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
The English women’s gymnastics team on the Gold Coast could be described as injury-depleted – but Alice Kinsella insists they are in rude health after claiming team silver on Friday night.
Kinsella – a relative veteran at 17 compared to late call-up Taeja James ,15, and Lucy Stanhope, 16, led by example with an impressive all-around showing that left her third overall and a great medal shout in Saturday’s individual final.
Her teammates – not least James who up until two weeks ago was not going to be in Australia before Amy Tinkler’s ankle injury – also brought their best on the night as they aimed to defend the gold won at Glasgow 2014. In the end it was silver behind Canada with Wales fourth and Scotland fifth.
“Getting this medal means everything to me, the girls have worked so hard, so hard in training and so well as a team together so getting this medal makes me feel so proud,” said Kinsella.
“We lost two of our strongest girls but the other two that came in, they are just as strong so we fought hard and got the result anyway.”
There was a first gold medal of the Games for Wales thanks to London 2012 Olympian Gareth Evans who made sure to celebrate in style.
The Welshman came fifth in Glasgow four years ago but was victorious this time around in the men's -69kg weightlifting competition, posting a total of 299kg.
"It was hard not to get a bit teary, if I'm being completely honest. Like every Welshman, I'm ridiculously proud," said Evans.
"To stand up there with the gold medal is special. I dread to think what's going on at my mum and dad's house at the moment.
"I missed out on a medal in Glasgow and vowed I would never miss a medal again. I have let that spur me on for the past four years."
Both England and Scotland will have mixed team badminton quarter-finals too on Saturday morning after both escaped from their pools.
For England that included a perfect record, beating South Africa and Australia 5-0 on day two - still yet to drop a rubber or even a game in the competition.
They will play Canada for a place in the semi-finals - four years on from becoming silver medallists - with Scotland alongside in the last eight.
That was despite their 5-0 defeat to top seeds India, finishing second in their pool to set up a quarter-final with second seeds Malaysia - with the winners set to meet England should they prevail.
Meanwhile, the team sports continued apace on the Gold Coast as the women’s beach volleyball team followed in the sandprints of their male counterparts, Jess Grimson and Victoria Palmer beating Trinidad & Tobago in straight games.
The good news continued onto the hockey field for England, beating Wales 5-1 in the women’s competition while Scotland and Canada played out a stalemate.
The same could also be said for England’s netball players, as they beat Malawi 74-49, while Northern Ireland beat Mauritius to reach the men’s table tennis quarter-finals.
And progression came the way of the squash players with former world No.1 and England’s Nick Matthew joining compatriot James Willstrop, Sarah-Jane Perry, Laura Massaro and Alison Waters in the latter stages.
Scotland’s Alan Clyne and Kevin Moran also progressed alongside Wales’ Joel Makin and Tesni Evans.
Finally the boxing saw John Docherty win through his men’s 75kg bout while Scotland’s Mitchell Barton lost out.
Sportsbeat 2018